It is heartening that the timely intervention of President Muhammadu Buhari in the simmering war between the Governor of Kano State, Umar Ganduje and the embattled Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammdu Sanusi II, has saved the tense situation from boiling over.
The dirge was some few octaves from reaching the crescendo, when the President, through Kano born business mogul Alhaji Aliko Dangote, and the Chairman of the Nigerian Governor’s Forum, who is also the Governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, stopped the threatening beat.
President Buhari brokered the much-needed peace between Governor Ganduje and the embattled Emir Sanusi.
Emir Sanusi has, in the past few days, been assailed with series of actions from the Kano Government House.
It is the belief in many quarters that there are much more to the current travails of the Emir than meets the eye. Political watchers are strongly of the opinion that the Emir incurred the wrath of the Kano governor over his alleged refusal to support his re-election and his backing for the candidate of the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party, Abba Yusuf, during the last governorship election in the state.
Governor Ganduje himself escaped defeat in the election by the skin of his teeth. It took a bloody run-off for the incumbent Governor Ganduje to retain his seat.
And so his subsequent actions, immediately his re-election was confirmed, was to take steps now being viewed in many quarters as vindictive, against the Emir, who Kano political watchers believe he has labeled the number one culprit in his near-defeat during the governorship election in the state.
Ganduje’s gerrymandering and cannibalisation of the behemoth ancient Kano Emirate into five smaller emirates with an emir appointed for each of them, is still being seen as part of his administration’s strategy to clip the wings of the powerful Emir of Kano and reduce his sphere of influence in the affairs of the people of the state.
Against all odds, the Governor went ahead with the decision of breaking up the emirate, claiming that the action of the government was necessitated by state’s burgeoning size over the years. The matter is currently a subject of litigation.
Since then, the situation has been one of one day, one trouble for the embattled Emir Sanusi. For the Kano government, carving up Sanusi’s power and influence seemingly became a task that must be done.
The yearly Sallah durbar, which had for over a century been organised by the Emir’s palace, drew the attention of the Kano Government House this year, as a statement by the governor’s media aide surprisingly announced the cancellation of the event this year, making the sign of the frosty relationship between the two leaders more visible and palpable.
The hitherto innocuous annual horseback procession by the Emir of Kano, a symbolic event held to mark the end of the Muslim Ramadan fasting period and to also celebrate the traditional power and influence of the monarch, became a security issue.
Nigerians and foreign tourists expecting to witness the emir’s graceful outing and the colourful ceremonies usually presented by the annual event, when thousands of residents of the town line the streets of the ancient city, beating drums and firing muskets, were no less taken aback and disappointed by last Thursday’s cancellation of the carnival.
The government did not stop at that. It also went ahead to restrict the Emir to his palace.
For all of these, the governor’s spokesman, Abba Anwar, merely cited “security reasons.”
The people of Kano had hardly recovered from the shock occasioned by the ban on the durbar and the restriction of the Emir within the confines of his palace when yet another shocker was announced by the state government! Emir Sanusi had 48 hours to answer a query on the allegations of financial impropriety levelled against the Emirate Council by the Kano State Public Complaints and Anti-corruption Commission.
The government had said that the Emir’s response to the query would enable it to “take appropriate decision.”
The state’s anti-graft agency, which had earlier recommended Sanusi’s suspension in its preliminary report over the misappropriation of N3.4 billion, said that the alleged crime was committed between 2014 and 2017.
It is, however, salutary to learn that despite the current truce, Sanusi has decided to clear his name by responding to the query of the state government regarding allegations leveled against him by the Kano anti-graft agency.
But according to the supporters of the Emir, the chain of actions by the state government, believed in many quarters to be punitive, left not a few in doubt about the real intention of the Kano Government House.
Much as we would not support a situation where anyone indicted for corrupt practices in any form is treated with kid’s gloves, softly patted in the back and asked to go and sin no more, we would enjoin those in positions of authority not to exercise their powers in ways that could be misconstrued as being vindictive or done to settle scores. Acts of corruption should be handled by the appropriate bodies without any form of bias that could tar their action in either political or vindictive colours.
It should always be remembered that the humiliation of perceived political enemies, under whatever guise, would be of no ultimate benefit to both the government and the society at large. It is still apt to note that when two elephants fight, the grass actually suffers.
There is a Yoruba adage that when the bata drum is sounding too loud and strident, it’s a warning signal that it’s about to get torn. Elected public office holders should always remember that life continues after the expiration of their tenure and that they would eventually return to live normally like the rest of us. It is important, therefore, to remind them to tread with caution at all times in taking decisions on issues. We should all have it at the back of our minds that power is transient and ephemeral. Those powerful men of yesterday are today under the authority of others, with some even being called to account for their deeds and misdeeds when they held the reins. We should all, at all times, remember that time-worn maxim, “No condition is
permanent.”
President Buhari’s timely intervention has, indeed, been the stitch that has saved the nine in the simmering situation that would have thrown the ancient city of Kano into an unprecedented chaos, given the volatile nature of the state. His fatherly role has, for now, staved off the standoff threatening the peace in Kano.
Kudos to the President!